Creationism is a
curious phenomenon which calls for an explanation. Some would say that
applies to all religious belief and maybe so, but there can be few
philosophies in the modern West that display such intense irrationality; that
require devotees to set their faces against such a vast body of modern
knowledge – cosmological, biological, geological, anthropological. I was
warned early on in my attempts to understand creationists that any attempt at
debating with them is futile, and my experience confirms this, although I have
had some perfectly civilised exchanges, verbal and written.

It is rather like
dealing with anorexics; thin people who are convinced they need to lose
weight, to the point of putting themselves at risk. Plonk them on scales and
the scales are wrong. Show them their emaciated reflection in a mirror and
they will still see a plump person. Reason with them and you are part of the
conspiracy to make them obese. While anorexia is normally referred to as an
eating disorder it is also, clearly, a form of mental illness, whose victims
can be sectioned and force-fed to keep them alive – which they will interpret
as cruelty. Anorexia is something that happens to other people; they are
perfectly normal.

The parallels with
creationism are as obvious to anyone who has engaged with it as they will seem
outrageous to creationists themselves; which proves my point. Anorexics,
victims of an eating disorder, cannot always be helped because the very
condition leads to denial of what's wrong with them; creationism we might say
is a thinking disorder
which also generates denial about its own irrationality. In their own eyes,
creationists are sane and impartial, the competent scientists, the faithful
interpreters of scripture, the true Christians. To everyone else their
science is worthless and their religion deviant; and they can't see it, so
they're crazy. They have a religious disability. You can do the equivalent
of holding a mirror up to the anorexic, which is to quote the immense body of
scientific and theological expertise proving their errors; but to the
creationist, this simply proves that you are part of a Satanic conspiracy to
undermine the true faith.

Pursuing the parallel
further, I think it follows that certain approaches to creationism should be
avoided. You do not arrange debates between anorexics and people with a
properly adjusted body image; you call sickness by its name and attempt to
treat it. They are mentally ill, so they're not fully aware of what's wrong
with them; you make allowances for this. Humour them, up to a point. So with
creationists: their thinking is disordered, they're in denial about it,
they're convinced you're out to get them, so to debate with them is not only
futile, it's actually inappropriate, because it treats them as equal partners
in a search for truth and insight – which they are not. It will not help
their recovery. Books and pamphlets that put both sides of the case, as
though there are arguments for and against creationism worthy of equal
consideration, are similarly misguided. This would be like publishing the
anorexic's argument for starving herself to death and weighing it respectfully
against her consultant's view that she's a very ill person.

You do not, you
cannot, respect an anorexic's beliefs; you respect her as a person, which of course is
quite different. Ditto with creationists; ridiculous though their beliefs
are, it's important to respect them as people. This will not be
reciprocated. You may treat the creationist as a Christian, but he will
not so regard you, unless you buy into his world-view, which you can't. (If
you don't profess to be a Christian anyway you don't have the same problem.)
And you do not put the anorexic in charge of the food counter at Wal-Mart,
because she doesn't understand what a normal diet is: likewise, you don't let
creationists anywhere near a school curriculum because they don't understand
what education is, certainly not what science is. You don't discuss this with
them, because they think your intentions are sinister, can't grasp that they
might be honourable. That's what having a disorder implies. The anorexic
really is an overweight blob. Evolution really is an atheistic fantasy with
no evidence to support it. Sure. Time for your medication.

There are really two
issues worth discussing here and I think that those who are trying to cure the
creationist disorder should concentrate on them, rather than on sterile
debates about radiometric dating and imaginary subjects like "flood geology".
The first has to do with protection. Anorexics need protection from
themselves; schools need protection from creationists. The debate was over
long ago. The question to be asked is not whether creationism can be taught
but simply how we can ensure that it isn't taught. Anywhere, ever.

The second really
interests me. Anorexia is a condition with causes, typically in the patient's
dysfunctional family circumstances. Understanding these can help towards a
cure of existing victims and preventing the illness from flaring up in others.
What are the conditions that give rise to the disorder of creationism? It's
not just the decadence and insularity of American fundamentalism, with its
focus on Biblical inerrancy; although this doesn't help, not all inerrantists
are YE creationists. I think it's a combination of fundamentalist culture, a
particular personality profile, the politicisation of American religion and
the polarisation of its popular culture. These streams feed the swamp in
which the malarial mosquitoes of creationism breed. How can we drain it?

For God's sake, for
humanity's sake if you don't believe in God, isn't it obvious? Liberals of
the world, unite! The open, pluralist society which guarantees everyone's
freedom – including that of creationists themselves - is under threat here.
What does liberalism mean if not shouting from the roof tops: beware
absolutes! Beware those who know they're right! Beware those who can't cope
with shades of grey and who insist that everything is either black or white!
Beware those who would send you to hell if you don't believe in their God!
There is more than one point of view on any subject and it's a pretty boring
subject on which there are only two!

Fundamentalists,
creationists, sectarians in general, can be perfectly charming people: but
their underlying position is unavoidably arrogant, and that's the great
danger. They know they're right. Liberalism is, or should be, about
humility; but it doesn't preclude conviction. It doesn't have to be woolly.
I know what I think, you know what you think, but we could both be wrong, or
only partly right: let's talk about it and by discussing what divides us
arrive at a truth greater than either of us understood before. I believe in
one God, you believe in another God, and she doesn't believe in God at all.
Isn't that interesting? Let's discuss it and see where we get. It might be
that we all finish up believing in something none of us do just at the moment:
such as (and how many creationists dare play with this thought) whether or not
there is a God, whether God can sensibly be said either to exist or not to
exist, may not be the issue. Perhaps the question really is: how does "God"
language work for me, and how does her "no God" language work for her? Do we
perhaps have more values in common than we realise?

Liberalism is a
precondition of cultural health. Liberalism provides for the flourishing of
science. Absolutist positions, whether rooted in religious or secular
ideology, lead to totalitarianism. Call it the Taliban, call it Stalinism,
call it creationism, call it the Spanish Inquisition, any mindset that
believes it alone has the truth and damns all opposition to hell, is the enemy
of the free society. As someone once said, we need seekers after the truth,
but protection from anyone who is dead certain he's found it.

For the evil of
creationism to triumph, it is only necessary that all the good liberals do
nothing. And perhaps, with Ken Ham's new museum drawing crowds not all of
whom can have paid their entrance fee just to have a laugh, now is the hour
for liberals to gird their loins.